Off-the-beaten-path Vineyards

Posted Wednesday, August 15, 2007 10:36 AM

I was recently in Red Wing, Minnesota, and was surprised to hear that there's a vineyard nearby in the town of Hastings -- I don't usually associate the upper Midwest with wine-making. I visited Alexis Bailly Vineyard and tasted 11 of their wines, and each was quite good (I especially liked their Voyageur and their sweet Isis Ice Wine). One of their grapes, the Frontenac, was actually developed at the University of Minnesota and can survive -35 degrees Fahrenheit, so the vines don't have to be buried in the winter.  

Alexis Bailly Vineyard was well worth the trip, and while regions like Napa and Tuscany are well-known for their wineries, it was cool to find a good vineyard someplace unexpected like Minnesota. Have you been to any off-the-beaten path vineyards?